[Ads-l] [EEMSG-SPAM: Suspect][Non-DoD Source] pooched (UNCLASSIFIED)

[Ben Zimmer]

Yes, it was definitely modeled on "fuck the dog," which was already in use.
See my Slate piece.

https://slate.com/human-interest/2014/01/screw-the-pooch-etymology-of-the-idiom-dates-back-to-nasa-and-the-military.html


On Tue, Oct 23, 2018 at 5:05 PM Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu>
wrote:

> Is there any reasonable speculation on the origin of the expression?  Was
> (metaphorical) “fuck the dog” already in widespread use before “screw the
> pooch” arose?  Is it clear what prompted it?  It strikes me as being
> analogous in some ways to “jump the shark”, but that one has a
> straightforward origin story.  Presumably there’s no TV episode we can
> blame for this one.
>
> LH
>
> > On Oct 23, 2018, at 3:46 PM, MULLINS, WILLIAM D (Bill) CIV USARMY RDECOM
> AMRDEC (US) <william.d.mullins18.civ at MAIL.MIL> wrote:
> >
> > CLASSIFICATION: UNCLASSIFIED
> >
> >
> >> ----
> >>
> >> "Screwed."
> >>
> >> Nicolle Wallace on _Deadline: White House_ yesterday:
> >>
> >> "The second member of the Dowd-Cobb team [is] basically acknowledging
> that, on obstruction, the President's pooched."
> >>
> >> < screw the pooch (popularized by _The Right Stuff_) < fuck the dog
> >>
> >> JL
> >
> > Don't know the dating that HDAS has on this, but I looked the phrase up
> in HathiTrust and found it:
> >
> > [The Peace Corps} _The Peace Corps Reader_ Washington DC: Office of
> Public Affairs, Peace Corps, 1969. p.  88.
> >
> > "Oh, man, did I ever screw the pooch on this one -- they can't write!"
> >
> > From the cover design, it almost looks to be for a juvenile audience.
> >
> >

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